Seat-post for bicycles



(No Model.)

QM m mw Ow PB RR m GT .8 M n E S No. 578,399. Patented'Mar. 9, 1897.

77 52371 (may.

UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

ARTHUR L. GARFORD, OF ELYRIA, OHIO.

SEAT-POST FOR BICYCLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 578,399, dated March 9, 1897.

Application filed February 8, 1896. Serial No- 578,570. (No model.)

T0 all whom, it may concern:

I Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Seat-Posts for Bicycles; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,

clear, and exact description of the invention,

such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in so called direct seat-posts for bicycles that is, to seat-posts which include as part of themselves clamping mechanism for engagement with the saddle.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple, cheap, and effective device of this character; and the invention consists in the construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a rear View of my improved seat-post in use with a saddle of which the frameis composed of two wires. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same, and Fig. 3 is a rear view of the seat-post in use with a saddle having that part of its frame which engages with the seat-post made of a fiat spring.

Referring to the parts by letters, A represents the seat-post, which is approximately cylindrical in form and is adapted to be secured in the usual socket provided therefor on bicycles.

At the upper end of the post are two laterally-movable clamping-jaws a a, having transverse grooves CL formed in their inner faces. These grooves are preferably curved so that they will conform to the usual shape of the saddle-frame member E, which lies in them. A bolt O passes through both jaws, and it and its nut c are the means preferred for drawing said jaws toward each other.

When the saddle-frame member is composed of two parallel wires 6 e, a space-block D is employed. It has grooves in its sides to receive the said wires, andon its under side is a perforated ear d. This space-block lies between the wires 6 6 between the jaws, and I the bolt 0 passes through the car 01 and holds it in the described position.

lVhen the saddle-frame member E is a flat spring, the post is used without the spaceblock.

In both cases the outer edges of the saddleframe member lie in said grooves, and when the jaws are drawn in the movement of said frame member is prevented.

The specific construction of the post, as shown in the drawings, is particularly light and cheap. The post is made of sheet metal, steel being preferred, bent at its middle to bring the two legs a a into substantially parallel relation. Each of these legs is bent longitudinally into concavo-convex form, the concave faces being inside. Thus when the two legs are in the described relation to one another the exterior configuration of the post is substantially cylindrical. The grooves a ct are formed by bending the upper or jawportions of said legs between suitable dies. The loop or bent part ad, which connects the two legs, acts to a certain extent as a spring, whereby said legs when not restrained by the bolt tend to move apart sufficiently to permit the saddle-frame member to be passed in and out between the jaws.

Having described my invention, I claim- A direct seat-post for bicycles consisting of two semicylindrical legs, the edges of which are adapted to contact, and a loop connecting the lower ends of said legs, said parts being made integrally from the same piece of sheet metal, the legs near their upper ends being bent outwardly to form two interior trans= verse grooves a, combined with a bolt which passes through the upper ends of said legs and adapted to draw them together, substan tially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ARTHUR L. GARFORD.

Witnesses:

E. L. THURSTON, L. F. GRISWOLD. 

